Summary Monoclonal antibodies are standard therapeutics for several cancers including the anti-CD20 antibody rituximab for B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Rituximab and other antibodies are not curative, and must be combined with cytotoxic chemotherapy for clinical benefit. Here we report the eradication of human NHL solely with a monoclonal antibody therapy combining rituximab with a blocking anti-CD47 antibody. We identified increased expression of CD47 on human NHL cells, and determined that higher CD47 expression independently predicted adverse clinical outcomes in multiple NHL subtypes. Blocking anti-CD47 antibodies preferentially enabled phagocytosis of NHL cells and synergized with rituximab. Treatment of human NHL-engrafted mice with anti-CD47 antibody reduced lymphoma burden and improved survival, while combination treatment with rituximab led to elimination of lymphoma and cure. These antibodies synergized through a mechanism combining Fc receptor (FcR)-dependent and FcR-independent stimulation of phagocytosis that might be applicable to many other cancers.

The CD19 antigen, expressed on most B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemias (B-ALL), can be targeted with chimeric antigen receptor–armed T cells (CART-19), but relapses with epitope loss occur in 10% to 20% of pediatric responders. We detected hemizygous deletions spanning the CD19 locus and de novo frameshift and missense mutations in exon 2 of CD19 in some relapse samples. However, we also discovered alternatively spliced CD19 mRNA species, including one lacking exon 2. Pull-down/siRNA experiments identified SRSF3 as a splicing factor involved in exon 2 retention, and its levels were lower in relapsed B-ALL. Using genome editing, we demonstrated that exon 2 skipping bypasses exon 2 mutations in B-ALL cells and allows expression of the N-terminally truncated CD19 variant, which fails to trigger killing by CART-19 but partly rescues defects associated with CD19 loss. Thus, this mechanism of resistance is based on a combination of deleterious mutations and ensuing selection for alternatively spliced RNA isoforms. Significance CART-19 yield 70% response rates in patients with B-ALL, but also produce escape variants. We discovered that the underlying mechanism is the selection for preexisting alternatively spliced CD19 isoforms with the compromised CART-19 epitope. This mechanism suggests a possibility of targeting alternative CD19 ectodomains, which could improve survival of patients with B-cell neoplasms.

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Potent CD19-directed immunotherapies, such as chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CART) and blinatumomab, have drastically changed the outcome of patients with relapsed/refractory B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). However, CD19-negative relapses have emerged as a major problem that is observed in approximately 30% of treated patients. Developing approaches to preventing and treating antigen-loss escapes would therefore represent a vertical advance in the field. Here, we found that in primary patient samples, the IL-3 receptor α chain CD123 was highly expressed on leukemia-initiating cells and CD19-negative blasts in bulk B-ALL at baseline and at relapse after CART19 administration. Using intravital imaging in an antigen-loss CD19-negative relapse xenograft model, we determined that CART123, but not CART19, recognized leukemic blasts, established protracted synapses, and eradicated CD19-negative leukemia, leading to prolonged survival. Furthermore, combining CART19 and CART123 prevented antigen-loss relapses in xenograft models. Finally, we devised a dual CAR-expressing construct that combined CD19- and CD123-mediated T cell activation and demonstrated that it provides superior in vivo activity against B-ALL compared with single-expressing CART or pooled combination CART. In conclusion, these findings indicate that targeting CD19 and CD123 on leukemic blasts represents an effective strategy for treating and preventing antigen-loss relapses occurring after CD19-directed therapies.

Key Points• Targeting of CD123 via CAR-engineered T cells results in rejection of human AML and myeloablation in mouse models.Many patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are incurable with chemotherapy and may benefit from novel approaches. One such approach involves the transfer of T cells engineered to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) for a specific cell-surface antigen. This strategy depends upon preferential expression of the target on tumor cells. To date, the lack of AML-specific surface markers has impeded development of such CARbased approaches. CD123, the transmembrane a chain of the interleukin-3 receptor, is expressed in the majority of AML cells but is also expressed in many normal hematopoietic cells. Here, we show that CD123 is a good target for AML-directed CAR therapy, because its expression increases over time in vivo even in initially CD123 dim populations, and that human CD123-redirected T cells (CART123) eradicate primary AML in immunodeficient mice. CART123 also eradicated normal human myelopoiesis, a surprising finding because anti-CD123 antibody-based strategies have been reportedly well tolerated. Because AML is likely preceded by clonal evolution in "preleukemic" hematopoietic stem cells, our observations support CART123 as a viable AML therapy, suggest that CART123-based myeloablation may be used as a novel conditioning regimen for hematopoietic cell transplantation, and raise concerns for the use of CART123 without such a rescue strategy. (Blood. 2014;123(15):2343-2354

Key Points Ibrutinib treatment of CLL enhances the generation of CAR T cells for adoptive immunotherapy. Concurrent ibrutinib therapy improves the engraftment and therapeutic efficacy of anti-CD19 CAR T cells in mouse models.

We report a patient relapsing 9 months after CD19-targeted CAR T cell (CTL019) infusion with CD19- leukemia that aberrantly expressed the anti-CD19 CAR. The CAR gene was unintentionally introduced into a single leukemic B cell during T cell manufacturing, and its product bound in cis to the CD19 epitope on the surface of leukemic cells, masking it from recognition by and conferring resistance to CTL019.

On July 1, 2014, the United States Food and Drug Administration granted 'breakthrough therapy' designation to CTL019, the anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy developed at the University of Pennsylvania. This is the first personalized cellular therapy for cancer to be so designated and occurred 25 years after the first publication describing genetic redirection of T cells to a surface antigen of choice. The peer-reviewed literature currently contains the outcomes of more than 100 patients treated on clinical trials of anti-CD19 redirected T cells, and preliminary results on many more patients have been presented. At last count almost 30 clinical trials targeting CD19 were actively recruiting patients in North America, Europe, and Asia. Patients with high-risk B-cell malignancies therefore represent the first beneficiaries of an exciting and potent new treatment modality that harnesses the power of the immune system as never before. A handful of trials are targeting non-CD19 hematological and solid malignancies and represent the vanguard of enormous preclinical efforts to develop CAR T-cell therapy beyond B-cell malignancies. In this review, we explain the concept of chimeric antigen receptor gene-modified T cells, describe the extant results in hematologic malignancies, and share our outlook on where this modality is likely to head in the near future.